By Karoun Demirjian, CQ Staff

Bills: HR 2831, HR 1338

Status: A House-passed bill that was intended to reverse a Supreme Court decision in a wage-discrimination case stalled in the Senate in April. Democrats are likely to bring the legislation back in the 111th Congress, along with a second bill that would make it easier for employees to sue for wage discrimination.

Synopsis: The bill (HR 2831), which the House passed in July 2007, was intended to reverse the 2007 Supreme Court decision in Ledbetter v. Goodyear Tire & Rubber Co. The court ruled, 5-4, that existing law required that workers filing suit for pay discrimination must do so within 180 days of when the alleged discrimination occurred.

The case grew out of a complaint filed in 1998 by Lilly Ledbetter, who alleged that during her 19-year career at a Goodyear Tire plant in Alabama, her supervisors conspired to pay her less than men doing substantially identical work. A federal jury awarded her back pay, but an appeals court reversed the decision. The Supreme Court ruled that Ledbetter’s complaint was “untimely.”

The bill would amend the Civil Rights Act of 1964 to make the 180-day statute of limitations begin anew with each discriminatory paycheck.

House Democrats won a mostly party-line vote of 225-199 to pass the bill July 31, 2007. Supporters argued that the court decision made it too difficult for many employees to bring legitimate pay-discrimination claims and that it permanently shielded employers from liability once the initial 180-day period had elapsed.

Buoyed by a White House veto threat, Republicans rallied against the measure, but Democrats allowed no floor amendments. Republicans argued that the bill was an attempt to upend congressional intent behind the Civil Rights Act of 1964, which envisioned a statute of limitations for claims of discrimination, and that it could open corporations to endless lawsuits

Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid , D-Nev., attempted to bring the legislation up in April of this year, but supporters could not rally enough GOP moderates to achieve the 60-vote majority needed to avert a filibuster and proceed to the bill.

Congress may also revisit a second House-passed measure on fair pay that died in the 110th. That bill (HR 1338) would shift the burden of proof in wage-discrimination suits from the employee — who currently must prove that the employer’s pay discrepancies were intentional — to the employer, who would have to prove they were not.

Legislative Action:

Senate rejected motion to invoke cloture on proceeding to HR 2831, 56-42, on April 23.

House passed HR 1338 (H Rept 110-783), 247-178, on July 31.

Related stories: House passage of HR 1338, CQ Weekly, p. 2134; Senate cloture vote, p. 1118; House passage of HR 2831, 2007 CQ Weekly, p. 2381.